Intertwined Fates. Ariana Bazhenova

which… a small marble temple was white, with a flock of birds circling above its dome. Looking around in fear and seeing flashes of fire engulfing everything around, I froze for a moment, doubting whether I should step onto the low steps of the temple and burn it down.

      «Don’t be afraid. Get up. Your fire cannot harm the stone,» I heard a high voice from behind the front door.

      With a sigh of relief, stepping onto the white marble, I got up and walked inside, passing a high arch. I squinted slightly, and when my eyes got used to the semi-darkness, I made out three figures in the white rays of the sun, calmly drinking tea at the table and chatting about their own.

      «Who are you? Why are you three?» – I asked in a trembling voice, feeling the cold of the stone floor with my bare feet.

      – We were waiting for you. Now there will be four of us – and we will help each other, – said a stately woman in a black robe and leaned forward slightly. I caught a barely discernible German accent. A ray of light outlined her delicate features and soft light hair. – I will guide you and lead you to where your fire will burn away everything unnecessary.

      Before I could utter a word, a second man – tall and thin – moved towards me. The light did not pick out his features, and he remained in the shadows; I only saw a gleam of the thin frame of his glasses.

      – I am completely confused.

      I immediately realized that the high voice I had heard at the entrance belonged to him.

      – I know and see a lot – in science, but I am blind in life. I do not know where I am going. I want your fire to light the way and warm me. You and I have known each other for a long time, but I am afraid to approach you, – he extended his hand to me from the shadows, and white light fell on a thin hand, on the ring finger of which a gold ring sparkled. – Save me. Find a way to me. Your fire does not burn in this temple of science – we must escape, but it is scary to leave the familiar for the unknown.

      I looked at the hand with the ring, fascinated, and barely leaned forward, feeling a strange trust in this man. And I felt a closeness to him, enveloping me like a warm blanket, covering me with a wave. As if we had really known each other for a very long time.

      – And she? – I pulled away with an effort of will to nod at the girl standing with her back to us. – What does she want?

      I squinted and saw the same light hair as mine. She turned her head halfway, and I saw the dull look in her brown eyes – almost as dark as mine.

      «Her fire doesn’t guide me anymore. She doesn’t want to leave here, from the familiar walls, nothing inspires her anymore. I… now it seems to me that I confused her fire with yours a few years ago,» the man continued a little more quietly, but I saw that the girl, remaining motionless, continued to listen. «Help me see, help me warm up, help me break out of the walls and escape into the unknown.» I involuntarily took a step back and glanced at all three of them.

      «I will help you,» the stately woman in black continued. It seemed that this voice was used to giving orders that did not tolerate objections, but with me she was unusually gentle. «Trust me. I will take care of all of you. We are waiting for you…

      …I reluctantly woke up, feeling the rays of the pale Petersburg sun on me. I lazily opened my eyes, looked at the gray walls of a completely unfamiliar apartment, turned on my side on an unusually hard sofa. And only a few moments later, almost falling asleep again, I abruptly opened my eyes and finally woke up. I realized that now I finally live in the northern capital. Ahead was a whole long summer day to explore a new city that I had only heard about before.

      ***

      I jumped up briskly, had a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs with black coffee, and, having fished a light linen sarafan out of the depths of my unpacked suitcase, began to get ready. Household chores could wait – first I wanted to take a walk in the heart of the city – on Nevsky Prospect. I wanted to believe that we would become friends with this city.

      The heat in St. Petersburg was special – the sun’s rays penetrated the air saturated with eternal moisture, creating a real bathhouse on the streets. I got out of the metro, squeezed through the crowd, and looked around.

      Here is the heart of St. Petersburg! In front of me towered the exquisite Singer building with a ligature of metal lace on the roof, crowned with a bizarre ball. And as soon as I turned my head and glanced along the Griboyedov Canal, all sorts of statues and ornaments on the facades of brightly colored houses spread out before me in all their beauty. Finally, my gaze stopped on the richly decorated Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, huddled in the cramped space between the wall of the house covered with construction mesh and the high fence of the shady park.

      I took out my phone, aimed the camera and took a photo – it turned out slightly blurry due to my pleasant excitement. «Beauty! People from all over the world come to see this city, it is depicted on all the postcards,» I thought, pressing the photo button.

      But suddenly a shadow of doubt flashed in my heart. «Stop! It is so beautiful! Why do these landscapes not evoke emotions in me?»

      Memories of how I walked along the bright and noisy avenues of Moscow and looked in enchantment at the tall glass skyscrapers flashed before my eyes, and my soul responded with a surge of strength. But how is this possible? After all, I wanted to move to St. Petersburg so much! And now I feel nothing?

      – I thought that we would become friends. I wanted to come here so much. But I feel a little uncomfortable, – I shrugged my shoulders in confusion, mentally addressing the city.

      And it was as if I heard a response from gloomy Petersburg in my head:

      – I’m not your friend. But I have something to teach you.

      I shook my head slightly, driving away the obsession.

      I was fired up by the idea of moving to Petersburg back in childhood, when my friend Katya and I and other kids from school went here for a week on an excursion. Accustomed to a small town, we were enchanted, as if in a dream, floating along the narrow streets of Petersburg, and the city seemed endless. Then, succumbing to the ardor of youth and the intoxicating feeling that life was just beginning and before us was an endless sea of opportunities, we decided to go to study in Petersburg after school. Time passed, youthful promises remained in the past – and now I am standing here, but no longer surrounded by friends, but alone. I ran under the awning of a summer veranda of one of the cafes, sat down at a table, ordered a glass of apricot cocktail with ice and looked around. In such weather, exploring the city from the shade turned out to be a good decision.

      – Kira, are you in St. Petersburg yet? How was your flight? Can you send me a photo? – a message from Katya (she preferred to call herself Kate), a childhood friend, a capricious hurricane of energy and emotions, appeared on the screen.

      Back then, at school, we wanted to go to St. Petersburg together. And now she lived in Moscow, having moved there a couple of months before me, and we supported each other during this difficult period of adaptation. I knew that Kate and I would always be each other’s support, no matter what happened.

      I sent her a few photos from the canal embankment and put the phone away, immersed in my thoughts.

      «Will I find peace here?» flashed through my mind.

      In Novosibirsk, at one point in my life, I felt anxiety to the fullest. Of course, for many, ghosts and other mysticism were just interesting stories to tickle the nerves, but I was closely connected to the world of supernatural sensations. The apogee was living in the same apartment with a ghost. An area on the outskirts of the city,